RT Article
T1 The Egyptian Coptic Christians: the conflict between identity and equality
JF Islam and Christian-Muslim relations
VO 16
IS 2
SP 155
OP 166
A1 Henderson, Randall P.
LA English
PB Routledge
YR 2005
UL https://ixtheo.de/Record/597089094
AB This essay will endeavor to explore the identity and situation of the Coptic Christian community in Egypt, which constitutes the largest Christian community in the Middle East. I will start with a brief background of the community's history and introduction to modern Coptic life in the form of its liturgy, art, and music in order that those of us in the West might better grasp the richness and heritage in which Coptic Christianity grounds its worldview. The essay will proceed to explore the present situation in which Coptic Christians find themselves as a minority within the borders of a nation that officially designates itself Islamic. In the late 1960s and 1970s the Sunday School Movement brought about an age of reform in the Coptic Church that continues to this day. A large part of the reform has been to identify their origins as apostolic, monastic and marked by martyrdom and persecution. Under Pope Shenouda III, the Coptic Church has undergone some organizational changes that are clearly perceived as a threat to the Egyptian government under President Mubarak, despite groundbreaking progress towards ecumenism and cooperation between Muslims and Christians at large. This essay will explore the tension between Muslims and Christians in Egypt and the ways in which the minority status of the Copts is simultaneously defining and sustaining their tradition and self-image.
K1 Dialog
K1 Islam
K1 Christentum
K1 Minderheiten/Randgruppen
K1 Orientalische Kirchen
K1 Ekklesiologie
K1 Ägypten
K1 Dialogue
K1 Christianity
K1 minorities/marginal groups
K1 Oriental Church
K1 Ecclesiology
K1 Egypt
DO 10.1080/09596410500059664